Mary E.L. Butler: Difference between revisions
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==Early Life and Education== |
==Early Life and Education== |
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The Butlers of County Clare were a landowning family that had remained Catholic. <ref> Biletz, F. (2012). Women and Irish-Ireland: The domestic nationalism of Mary Butler. . Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/412151/Women_and_Irish-Ireland_The_Domestic_Nationalism_of_Mary_Butler</ref> Mary’s mother was Ellen Lambert of Castle Ellen, Co. Galway, and her younger sister Isabella, was mother of Lord (better known as Sir Edward) Carson, leader of the Ulster Party in its opposition to Home Rule.<ref>Clare Genealogy: The butlers of county Clare: Bunnahow; Walterstown; Kilcommon and Ballyline; Doonbeg. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/butlers/bunnahow.htm</ref> Edward Carson, who became the intransigent leader of Ulster unionism <ref>Boyd, W. (2014, January 10). Edward Carson’s long shadow. Retrieved November 23, 2016, from The Irish Times, http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/edward-carson-s-long-shadow-1.1649952 |
The Butlers of County Clare were a landowning family that had remained Catholic. <ref> Biletz, F. (2012). Women and Irish-Ireland: The domestic nationalism of Mary Butler. . Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/412151/Women_and_Irish-Ireland_The_Domestic_Nationalism_of_Mary_Butler</ref> Mary’s mother was Ellen Lambert of Castle Ellen, Co. Galway, and her younger sister Isabella, was mother of Lord (better known as Sir Edward) Carson, leader of the Ulster Party in its opposition to Home Rule.<ref>Clare Genealogy: The butlers of county Clare: Bunnahow; Walterstown; Kilcommon and Ballyline; Doonbeg. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/butlers/bunnahow.htm</ref> Edward Carson, who became the intransigent leader of Ulster unionism <ref>Boyd, W. (2014, January 10). Edward Carson’s long shadow. Retrieved November 23, 2016, from The Irish Times, http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/edward-carson-s-long-shadow-1.1649952 |
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</ref>was Mary’s cousin. During the Land League agitation of the late 1870's and early 1880's, Butler was educated at Alexandra College, Dublin, a school attended largely by young women of Protestant background |
</ref>was Mary’s cousin. During the Land League agitation of the late 1870's and early 1880's, Butler was educated at Alexandra College, Dublin, a school attended largely by young women of Protestant background <ref>Biletz, F. (2002). Women and Irish-Ireland: The Domestic Nationalism of Mary Butler. New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua, 6(1), 59-72.</ref>, where she had the advantage of having native masters for the French, Italian, and German languages which she studied with enthusiasm. <ref name="NLI">{{cite web|title=Life of Mary E. L. Butler|url=http://sources.nli.ie/Record/MS_UR_050629|website=National Library Ireland|accessdate=23 November 2016}}</ref> According to A Life of Mary Butler, a marked characteristic of her young days and one that grew with her growth, was her intense love of home ties. <ref name="NLI" /> After reading John Mitchell’s Jail Journal that she became a nationalist and even changed her name to Máire de Buitléir. |
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Revision as of 15:22, 23 November 2016
Mary E. L. Butler (1874-1920) (Template:Lang-ga) was an Irish writer and Irish-language activist.
Mary Butler was the daughter of Peter Lambert Butler and the granddaughter of William Butler of Bunnahow, County Clare.[1]She was a close relative of Edward Carson[2] In order to learn Irish she made several visits to the Aran Islands. According to her memoirs, which are in a Benedictine monastery in France, she was converted to the nationalist cause after reading John Mitchel's Jail Journal. From 1899 to 1904 she edited a women's page and also a children's page in the Irish Weekly Independent. She promoted the nationalist cause in both.
She joined the Gaelic League, where she got to know women Irish-language enthusiasts such as Evelyn Donovan, Agnes O'Farrelly and Máire Ní Chinnéide, and spent several years on its executive.[3]
In 1907, she married Thomas O'Nolan, who died in 1913.
She was a close friend of Arthur Griffith and in a letter of condolence which Griffith wrote to her sister from Mountjoy Jail in 1920 he states that Mary Butler was the first person to suggest to him the name Sinn Féin as the title of the new organisation which he had founded.[4]
She died in Rome in 1920 and is buried there.
Early Life and Education
The Butlers of County Clare were a landowning family that had remained Catholic. [5] Mary’s mother was Ellen Lambert of Castle Ellen, Co. Galway, and her younger sister Isabella, was mother of Lord (better known as Sir Edward) Carson, leader of the Ulster Party in its opposition to Home Rule.[6] Edward Carson, who became the intransigent leader of Ulster unionism [7]was Mary’s cousin. During the Land League agitation of the late 1870's and early 1880's, Butler was educated at Alexandra College, Dublin, a school attended largely by young women of Protestant background [8], where she had the advantage of having native masters for the French, Italian, and German languages which she studied with enthusiasm. [9] According to A Life of Mary Butler, a marked characteristic of her young days and one that grew with her growth, was her intense love of home ties. [9] After reading John Mitchell’s Jail Journal that she became a nationalist and even changed her name to Máire de Buitléir.
Activism
Mary E.L Butler was a member of the Gaelic League, serving for several years on its League Executive, but unlike other notable female members such as Countess Markevich and Maud Gonne, Mary did not seek an “assertive public role”.[10] Butler was not a professed feminist.[10] Mary believed that in order for women to progress in Ireland they must progress within the limits of conservative Ireland. Mary approaches much of her writings from a gender related viewpoint, making much reference to the domestic side of activism.
She wrote articles that appeared frequently in the League's newspaper, An Claidheamh Soluis, as well as in the United Irishman and in other periodicals.[11] Some were republished as pamphlets.[12]
Butler's overriding goal was always the achievement of securing an Irish speaking Ireland. It is no surprise then that Mary had ties to Arthur Griffith. Griffith actually credited Mary with coining the term ‘Sinn Féin’.[2] Mary focused mainly in her writings on nationalism but in a domestic context and underlined in much of her texts the important role of women in maintaining and promoting nationalism in the home.
Writing
Mary E. L. Butler was a frequent contributor to the leading periodicals of “Irish Ireland”. In many of her articles there, Butler expressed her nationalism side by focusing her writings on the importance of women’s role in building an independent Irish nation. She believed that activities undertaken within the boundaries of Irish people’s homes are an essential step into achieving an Irish-speaking Ireland. Besides bringing up their children to speak the national language, Irish women could also teach them pride in the national history.
Her articles appeared frequently in the League's newspaper, An Claidheamh Soluis, as well as in the United Irishman and in various Irish-American periodicals. She also wrote columns in the Irish weekly independent on issues concerning children’s education and women’s role in the movement.[13] Many of her articles got issued separately as pamphlets among some of which were: “Irish woman and the Home language”[14], “Two schools: A contrast”, “Womanhood and Nationhood”[15].
Butler also wrote fiction, publishing a collection of stories “A Bundle of Rushes” in 1900. In 1906 her first novel “The Ring of Day” was serialized in the Irish Peasant, before being published in a book form a year later. The book focused on a young woman’s conversion to the cause of Irish-Ireland and may be largely taken as a self-portrait.[16]
Religion and Her Relationship with France and Rome
Mary E.L. Butler was a devout Catholic, as shown by the fact that she was a frequent contributor to the Bulletin and other Catholic periodicals[17]. Despite her views on gender equality, Butler did believe that the Church promoted domesticated idea of women, although she believed women could still do a lot of work for the Irish language revival movement from the comfort of their own homes[18]. She lived in Brittany, France for a while with her mother, before moving to Rome[17]. Butler was very comfortable living in Brittany, as she viewed the native Bretons as having the same Celtic roots and sharing the same Catholic beliefs and strong level of faith as the Irish[17]. In her writings for the Catholic Bulletin she also continuously compares the landscape to the west coast of Ireland, constantly remarking at how similar they are. She viewed France and Italy as two very free countries and allies of Ireland and she seemed to believe that Ireland should aspire to be more like them, in terms of politics[17]. She also believed that the general populations of the two countries were very interested in the Irish political affairs of the time. Furthermore she loved her time in Rome too, as the city had such a long and strong history of being connected with Catholicism and the ground was, as she said, “soaked with the blood of martyrs”[17]. She was buried in the Catholic cemetery San Lorenzo in Rome on November 29th 1920.
References
- ^ Irish Peasant, 17 March 1906 - Women members of the Coiste Gnótha (the League Executive)
- ^ a b "AN PHOBLACHT/REPUBLICAN NEWS". republican-news.org. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ Agnes O'Farrelly, Smaointe ar Árainn/Thoughts on Aran, ed. Ríona Nic Congáil (2010), p 15
- ^ O'Snodaigh, Aengus. "Sinn Féin and Sinn Féin". An Phoblacht/Republican News. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- ^ Biletz, F. (2012). Women and Irish-Ireland: The domestic nationalism of Mary Butler. . Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/412151/Women_and_Irish-Ireland_The_Domestic_Nationalism_of_Mary_Butler
- ^ Clare Genealogy: The butlers of county Clare: Bunnahow; Walterstown; Kilcommon and Ballyline; Doonbeg. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/butlers/bunnahow.htm
- ^ Boyd, W. (2014, January 10). Edward Carson’s long shadow. Retrieved November 23, 2016, from The Irish Times, http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/edward-carson-s-long-shadow-1.1649952
- ^ Biletz, F. (2002). Women and Irish-Ireland: The Domestic Nationalism of Mary Butler. New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua, 6(1), 59-72.
- ^ a b "Life of Mary E. L. Butler". National Library Ireland. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
- ^ a b Biletz, F. (2016). Women and Irish-Ireland: The domestic nationalism of Mary Butler. . Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/412151/Women_and_Irish-Ireland_The_Domestic_Nationalism_of_Mary_Butler
- ^ United Irishman, January 1903
- ^ e.g., "Irishwomen and the Home Language" and "Two Schools: A Contrast."
- ^ MacPherson, D. A. J. (2012). Women and the Irish Nation: Gender, Culture and Irish Identity, 1890-1914. Palgrave Macmillan.
- ^ Dworkin, D. L. (Ed.). (2012). Ireland and Britain, 1798-1922. Hackett Publishing.
- ^ Steele, K. M. (2007). Women, press, and politics during the Irish Revival. Syracuse University Press.
- ^ The Ring of Day. London: Hutchinson and Company, 1906
- ^ a b c d e Alter, S. (1921). Notes from Rome (on the death in Rome of Máire de Buitléir - Mrs. O'Nolan). The Catholic bulletin, Vol. XI, 19-20.
- ^ Biletz, F. (2002). Women and Irish-Ireland: The Domestic Nationalism of Mary Butler. New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua, 6(1), 59-72.
- Máire De Buitléir "Bean Athbheochana" by Mairéad Ní Chinnéide (Comhar 1993)